I Challenge You
by talking-hat
Summary: Dre gets tired of Cheng sometimes. The dude just loves to compete.


Okay, my second TKK 2010 fanfic. I wrote this at the end of last year but I was too lazy to put it up, sorry. XD The first part of this story came to my head when I found out they were going to make a sequel for this movie and I thought, hey what if they tricked the audience at the beginning? You probably wouldn't understand. So, just read on. I apologize if the story turned stupid somewhere in the middle. I got carried away.

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie or the characters but I do own this story *sniff*.

* * *

** I CHALLENGE YOU**

"Get him!" The boy's voice was loud and clear, causing Dre to run faster. His heart was pumping, adrenaline rushing, legs aching but he kept rushing past the many shop houses and stalls along the street, leaving many confused shop owners and customers turning their heads to see what all the commotion was about. Dre turned around to find a glimpse of orange behind him and knew exactly who it was.

More orange figures were chasing him. Dre grunted and pushed himself further. "Kuài diǎn! _(Hurry up!)_" the all too familiar voice sounded even more desperate this time. At this, Dre ran as fast as his legs could carry him although they were in so much pain that if he wasn't being chased by a group of fierce Chinese kids who were also skilled kung fu prodigies, he would have collapsed on the street and had Mr. Han carry him home – again.

Dre knew he could fight their leader and beat him since he had done it before but to resist all the other members of his gang at once, uh, yeah, leave that to the maintenance man who made them all beat each other up unintentionally when he was still the defenseless new kid a year ago.

He spotted a narrow alley in between a grocery store and a shop that sold colourful Chinese lanterns. A car slowed down in front of the grocery store and Dre used this to avert attention. He ran in front of the car and heard a man swinging his fist out the window. "Watch where you're going!"

Dre could only cry out his 'duì bu qǐ 's _(sorry)_ and dash into the alley. He could still hear the others shouting behind him. This made him pick up his pace and race further down the alley.

A huge stack of wooden crates and old unused boxers placed in front of a brick wall blocked his path. "Aww man!" he shook his head and groaned. He didn't have time to stall as his chasers were already a few meters behind him. Dre climbed up the crates, more determined this time despite his energy being drained by all the running.

He managed to make his way up onto a low roof and scrambled to the other side. He jumped down onto the ground and hesitated before moving on when he heard the sounds of loud steps and teenage boys speaking in Chinese climbing up behind him. "They just never give up," he muttered alone.

Dre felt that he was way in front of everyone this time. They must have had a hard time trying to get to the other side. He wanted to take a breather but decided not to stop.

He finally had to halt though as memories of last year came to mind when he was once again obstructed by two green gates that were padlocked. Dre groaned. He had not mastered the ability to leap over them yet and these gates were half his height taller.

"It's like Déjà vu, isn't it?" a voice said to him. Dre turned around and the boy that used to beat him up when he first came here smirked. His gang of friends sniggered. "I win."

Dre didn't answer and only looked him straight in the eye. "Do it, then."

"What?"

"What are you waiting for? Get it over with!"

"Okay," he gave a smug smile.

Dre shut one eye and peeked out the other.

"Do it!" The others cheered.

"Shut up!" their leader scowled.

Dre felt a sharp poke in his right rib. "Oww!"

"TAG! You're it."

Dre frowned. "You didn't have to poke so hard. What are you trying to do? Puncture holes in me?"

The other boy raised both his hands apologetically. "Sorrry," he said in a mocking tone. The kid with the cornrows rolled his eyes. "Still the same, aren't you, Cheng?"

"Yep," he grinned. "I win, right?"

"Yeah, but you do know what you have to do now, right?" Dre raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. I win, you lose, game over," Cheng shrugged.

Dre slapped his forehead. "No! It means I'm it."

"So?"

"So, I have to chase you this time and tag you."

"Oh."

"RUN!"

Cheng looked puzzled, before finally getting it and ran. **_"_**Kuài pǎo! _(Run for it!)_" He told the others and the mad chase began once more.

* * *

They weren't enemies, not anymore. In fact, Dre considered Cheng as sort of his good friend in a way, besides Harry, of course. They even sat during lunch in a group.

But the Asian boy must have suffered a bad experience back when they were fighting in the kung fu tournament last year. Cheng had never been beaten by anyone. He had a trophy collection at home for all his kung fu tournaments and competitions for each year and he was hoping to use up his last glass case with another one.

_**Cheng's house 4 months ago…**_

"_Dayum, Cheng!" Dre seemed in aww of all the medals, tropies and framed photos of his new-found friend in kung fu attire. "This is so cool! You actually have a museum for all of this?"_

_Cheng didn't want to seem boastful but he couldn't hide his cocky grin. "Yeah," he chuckled. "This one was from back when I was 8." He gestured at a golden trophy topped with a small figurine posed in a fighting stance. _

"_It still shines brighter than my track-running medal last year back in Detroit," Dre commented. Cheng scoffed. "Yours is probably plastic. This, Parker, is made from 90% pure gold." _

_Dre didn't say anything to that but merely cleared his throat. The other one didn't seem to get the message. He soon caught sight of a glass case which was still empty. It was marked 2009. "Hey, what about that one?" he pointed at it._

_Cheng who was previously beaming and bragging about his past year achievements, glared at him. "That was supposed to be last year's."_

"_What?"_

"_You should know," he left the room before sticking his head back in. "It's lunch time now. Are you coming or not?" _

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'," Dre followed him. He was still stumped about what Cheng said and it wasn't until he returned home and found his trophy for winning the previous year's kung fu tournament that he finally realized. "I get it now."_

_He went to sleep with a smile on his face that night._

_

* * *

_

And that was how it started. From then on, Cheng had developed a new hobby of setting up all types of challenges between them - mostly things that Dre was good at - to see who's better at it. Dre remembered the time when Cheng challenged him to a rap battle.

"You wanna rap against ME?" Dre said, surprised. "You sure about this? It's aite, okay. I'll go easy on you on this one."

Cheng rolled his eyes. "Listen, Parker. I want a fair fight and don't think that just because I'm Asian, I can't rap. We'll compete after school in front of everyone. I'll prove to you I can beat you at your own game."

"Why? Because I beat you at yours?" This brought up 'Oooh's from the crowd as they anticipated what would happen next.

His former bully was silent for a while, fist tightened. He calmed himself down before extending a hand. "Be there and we'll see."

"Oh, it's on!" Dre shook hands with him. "Outside of school?"

Cheng smirked.

_After school…_

The compound outside of school was filled with students from different years, all wanting to see who would win. Most of them expected Dre to win. Some younger girls who were admirers of Cheng rooted for him instead.

Dre made his way to the centre of the circle. So did Cheng. They seemed to be battling with their eyes.

"You gonna start?" Dre started.

"I'm saving the best for last."

"Okay." Dre went forward. "No music? I'm cool with that."

The next two minutes, Cheng could only make out half of Dre's rhymes. Cheng wasn't top in his English class, though he was not bad at it either. Still, he didn't get any of the slangs and shortened words that Dre was spewing nonstop. It was only when Dre went on to the last part of his rap that Cheng's ears perked up.

_Now he's bigger than me,  
Taller than me.  
And he's older than me,  
And stronger than me.  
And his arms a little bit longer than me.  
*But he ain't as tough as he used to be._

Cheng furrowed his eyebrows, much like how he did when he was fighting against Dre during the tournament before.

_I be trying a chill  
They be trying to side with the thrill.  
No pun intended, was raised by the power of Will._

_Like Luke with the force, when push comes to shove.  
Like Cobe with the 4th, ice water with blood._

_I gotta be the best, and yes  
We're the flyest.  
Like David and Goliath,  
I conquered the giant._

Cheng looked down at himself. He wasn't that big, nor was he fat. "Who's he calling a giant?" he thought angrily.

_So now I got the world in my hand,  
I was born from two stars  
So the moon's where I land._

Dre finished his last sentence with a smug smile. He could hear a few people clapping and cheering, although the crowd's reaction didn't meet his expectations at all. In fact, the only people who seemed to enjoy his performance were the few foreign kids who go to the same school as him. The rest, mainly Chinese kids just stood there, confused.

"Tā shuō shén me? _(What did he say?)" _Some of them were whispering to each other. Dre turned to Harry who smiled and gave him the thumbs up sign but dropped it when he noticed most of the silent spectators staring at him.

"Who was 'he'?" Cheng sneered.

"Oh, you should know," Dre replied which earned another eyebrow curling from Cheng. He felt a bit discouraged that he failed to put on a good impression in front of his schoolmates but cheered himself up by reminding himself that Cheng would probably earn the same looks from them too.

It was Cheng's turn to step into the middle.

The next thing Dre knew was that everyone was shouting and cheering for Cheng who had been rapping off incoherent Chinese words that to Dre sounded gibberish. He narrowed his eyes at Harry who seemed to be caught in the moment as well and had his eyes fixed on Dre's competition with great admiration.

The girls who were on Team Cheng were squealing and giggling as their crush was free styling in words they understood perfectly. Dre nudged Harry harshly, to which his friend apologized with contrition. "What is he saying?" he muttered.

Cheng ended his rap, "Bù yào huǐ le wǒ de *gōng fu mèng!" Everyone except Dre and Harry went wild and chanted, "Cheng, Cheng, Cheng!"

Harry suppressed a look of sympathy towards Dre who remained rooted at his spot and not joining the rest of the crowd in their support for Cheng, and said softly, "I think he's telling you not to mess with his kung fu dream."

"What?"

"It's a reminder. For you not to make him a loser in his best sport again."

"He's still going on about that?"

"Uh…yeah, the dude must still hold a little a grudge against you, I guess. But don't worry, I'm sure he likes you. And me. He sits with us now, doesn't he?"

Dre didn't answer him. His attention was on Cheng who was making his way towards him. "Well, Parker. It looks like I win again," he said, triumphantly.

"That's not fair. You were rappin' in Chinese." Dre tried to find a loophole in Cheng's victory.

Cheng chuckled. "I never said it had to be in English." He turned towards everyone else. "Free *Smart Watermelon soda for everyone! It's on me!" Earning even louder cheers from them as they all followed him for free drinks.

Harry, sensing Dre's discontent at the whole thing patted his back in an attempt to console him. "It's okay, Dre. I'll be on your side."

Dre sighed. "You're always the only one on my side, Harry."

"Yeah…sorry.

* * *

Cheng would never let Dre win. If he couldn't do it, then he'd include a third person in the game as well. Like the time he interfered Dre and Harry when they were skateboarding…

* * *

"Harry!" Dre called. "Check this out!" Dre zoomed on his favourite skateboard that he took with him from Detroit. He accelerated his speed, nearing the steep steps and jumped over them. Harry stood and watched in amazement. He picked up his own skateboard and joined Dre at the bottom just as the boy landed at the foot of the steps, unscratched.

"Woah! I wanna do that too!" Harry ran towards the stairs and prepared to attempt the same trick. "You gotta make sure to jump right before the last wheels of your board reach the steps or you'll fall," Dre yelled out.

"Okay."

Harry was at the top landing ten feet away from the stairs, one foot on his skateboard, preparing to do the same trick that Dre did, when he sensed a certain presence behind him. He gulped and turned around.

The boy that used to bully him and his best friend stood 2 feet away from him, with a smirk. Although Harry and Cheng are friends now, he still couldn't help being intimidated by the latter, who he knew he wouldn't want to mess with. Harry didn't turn into a kung fu champion like Dre, nor did he learn any simple karate moves to defend himself and being so close to the kid who had only been beaten once in a kung fu tournament and used to terrorize his school and the playground was enough to make his face blanch.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Cheng asked, eyeing his skateboard.

"Oh, just having fun," the blonde boy scratched his neck, trying to come up with the right thing to say. "Dre and I are practicing tricks."

Cheng raised one of his eyebrows that curved up into a hill shape, like how a cartoon character would.

"On skateboards." Harry finished.

On the bottom landing at the foot of the stairs, Dre called out to him. "Harry! You alright? What's taking you so long?"

"I'm fine!"

"Then hurry up."

"Uh, we've got some company, Dre."

"What company?" Dre ran up the steps, just in time to see Cheng cross his arms and turn to him. "Oh hey, Cheng. What're you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Nah, Harry and I were just tryin' out some cool tricks on boards," Dre explained.

"Hah!" Cheng scoffed. "Even babies are more skillful than that. I'll show you beginners a real trick."

"Go ahead then." Dre smiled, amusedly, used to Cheng's cockiness and airs.

"Say, how about we turn this into a challenge? Me against you?"

Dre groaned. "Do we have to have another one, Cheng? I mean, we already did two this week. I need a break."

"Okay, okay, last one for this week."

"No, for this month."

"Two weeks!"

"Fine."

"But first, I need to borrow a skateboard." Cheng turned to look at Harry, who picked up his skateboard and held it under his arm protectively, afraid that the other one might snatch it.

"Sorry, Cheng, but this is mine. Don't you have your own one?"

"I don't have one with me right now. You'll have to give me yours."

"I wanna play too."

"This is between me and Dre."

"But this is _my_ skateboard."

"And you're going to lend it to me." Cheng did a "Give me" gesture with his hand.

"Why can't I join in?"

"You can do so later," Cheng persisted. "Now hand it over."

"This isn't fair." Harry whined.

"Gěi wǒ nǐ de huá bǎn! _(Give me your skateboard!)"_ he raised his voice.

Harry backed down reluctantly. He never protested or defied Cheng whenever he started switching into his native language in that well-known threatening tone of his. Cheng usually showed glimpses of his former self when anyone dared to go against his orders, though he tried to keep that side of him in control. Only Dre showed no signs of fear towards him because he knew he could just kick Cheng's butt anytime when necessary.

Cheng jerked the skateboard away from Harry, with a satisfied smirk and motioned for Dre to follow him but the American boy stood his ground. "Give Harry his skateboard back," he said, gently but firmly.

"It's okay, Dre," Harry assured him. "I'm tired anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Harry sat down on the sidewalk near the stairs. "You two go first."

Dre went first and borrowed Harry's as well since he needed two. He got onto his own and skated off first for a few yards, then turned back around and stuck his right foot onto Harry's board. He then skated with both skateboards the same length again before jumping up, turning around and landing on them once more, but this time with his right foot on his own and the left one on Harry's.

Cheng seemed mildly impressed. "Is that all you can do, Parker?" Dre's grin turned upside down, but he soon got a hold of his self and said, "What? You got a better one?"

Harry tried to secretly steal his skateboard away but Cheng pried it off his hands for the second time, leaving the blond boy to growl softly.

Cheng prepared to get on his skateboard. He skated quite a distance, ignoring Dre's, "You call that a trick?", then proceeded to do a handstand on it. Dre's eyes bulged wide. "What the….?"

Suddenly a group of girls on roller skates and skateboards as well zoomed past Cheng while he was doing his stunt. A few of them giggled when they saw him and some waved. He recognized one of them very well. However, she was the only one who was not paying attention to him but was focused solely on her skating. The wind blowing her two pigtails and her cheeks flushed pink.

Cheng was mesmerized for a few seconds, which resulted in his arms becoming unsteady and him falling over. That shocked both his friends, who rushed to aid him. "Cheng!" Dre and Harry helped him get back on his feet. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cheng shrugged off their hands. "Really." The giggling girls had fled the scene.

"You took quite a tumble there, dude," Harry expressed his concern, picking up his skateboard at the same time before Cheng can grab it again.

"I'm telling you guys. I'm fine." He checked his arm to find a bruise and a scraped elbow.

Dre smiled smugly. "Guess that means I'm the winner this time, huh?"

"No, you're not."

"It can't be you. You failed your turn."

"I didn't say it was me either."

"So it's a tie?"

"No."

"Then who wins?" Dre found Cheng to be staring at the spot where the girls had skated past. He seemed to be in a daze and a goofy smile took place on his otherwise stoic face.

"Mei Ying."

* * *

_Well? What do you think? Did you have to detach your brains for a while so you wouldn't end up crying because of the sheer idiocity of it all? Please please please RnR. I would like to know your thoughts on it and how I can improve._

_Btw, I'd like to mention, I got the idea of including the Chinese phrases and translations from **John (shmankingowner)**._

_-**Smart Watermelon Soda**- I think they sell this in China. I saw it on a website._

_-**Gong fu meng **(Kungfu Dream aka the China version of the TKK movie title)_

_-**Mei Ying can skateboard? **Yes, the actress Han WenWen can skateboard, rollerskate, and ride the scooter. She's very good at it too. Apparently Cheng aka Wang Zhenwei isn't that skillful in those type of sports. XD_


End file.
